Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all are enjoying your families and the holiday spirit. This is a card that shows the reason we are all able to celebrate this marvelous holiday! I fell in love with this stamp set when I first got my holiday mini way back when. I think I own almost every nativity set that Stampin' Up! has created and they seem to have a new one every year! I love each one and Stampin' Up! has made some great ones! This is this years nativity set.

Stamps: Rejoicing in Christmas

Ink: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Scallop edge punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, aqua painter, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, Shimmer

paint, finger dauber, Square Lattice embossing folder, sponge

Remember with all the family and gifts that the real reason for the seaon is the birth of a little bitty baby!Rejoice in the birth of our Savior! Merry Christmas!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

One Sketch, Three Cards

Well I had some time earlier this month to play with a sketch challenge at Stampin' Addicts! Paula is very creative with the challenges and I love to play along! Here is her design:

This sketch came from our FABULOUS Idea Book and Catalog, page 69 to be exact! I loved this sketch from the moment that I saw it! I had several ideas come rushing to my brain and I just had to stamp them out. I will admit that I did rotate the sketch but other than that, I stayed pretty much with what we were given!

Here's my first card!

 Stamps: Big on Christmas

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and So Saffron markers, Top Note die, 2-way glue,

 Dazzling Diamonds, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Jolly  Holiday DSP, dimensionals

I did stamp the tree on Old Olive cardstock and cut it out. I'm not sure if you can see but there is Dazzling Diamonds on the star on the top of the tree. Isn't it pretty?

Well, here's another card! The top note is a little bigger and the sketch is rotated but still the same sketch! On this one, I stamped the ornament on Very Vanilla card stock and colored with markers and Platinum shimmer paint.

Stamps: Big on Christmas

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, and Early Espresso markers, Jolly Holiday DSP, Platinum shimmer paint, aquapainter, Top Note die, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, dimensionals

Now for my favorite card! When I first saw the sketch, this is what I had come to mind right away. I have to admit that my hubby wasn't too happy with me because supper was a little late that day! Oh well, I got my card made and everyone ate! All works for me!

Stamps: Come to Bethlehem
Ink: Old Olive

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Jolly Holiday DSP, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder,

Champange shimmer mist, finger dauber, Top Note die

Now you need to check out some challenges and create your own fun cards! I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

November Club projects

I have a hostess group that meets every month. We make several projects every time we meet. These are the projects that we made in November. This card is very simple but I was pretty excited with the way it turned out! I did change it a little from what my ladies all stamped but you get the idea! The snowflakes have Platinum shimmer paint on them. I also stamped the ornament and the sentiment with shimmer paint on them. What I did to do this is ink up the stamp in the color that I wanted and then using a finger dauber, I sponged on the shimmer paint and then stamped.

Stamps: Tags til Christmas, Short & Sweet

Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist

Ink: Marina Mist

Accessories: Platinum shimmer paint, finger dauber, Marina Mist ribbon, Northern Flurries embossing folder, Ticket corner punch, ornament punch, dimensional

These hand sanitizers have been all over the place. They are super fun to make! I followed directions from somewhere but not sure where. I made several extra and then sold them at a vendor fair that I was part of (hence the sign in the background!).

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Dot, Dot, Dot

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Basic Black

Ink: Poppy Parade, Soft Suede

Accessories: Wide oval, scallop circle, 1/2" circle, snowflake punches, crop-a-dile, 2-way glue, dazzling diamonds, dimensionals

Here's the inside. I didn't do anything to it. Ran out of time!

The last project we made required each member of the club to bring along a mini muffin tin. We punches scallops from Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler (don't you just LOVE this new, rich red? I do!) and circles from Holly Jolly designer series papers. I printed the numbers from my computer and we punched them with the 1/2" circle punch. Add some magnets and you have a great Advent calendar! We were trying to figure out what you could put behind the scallops as little gifts other than candy. Quarters are my favorite!

Edited to add: In searching for something else this evening, I found a picture of this advent calendar exactly like mine! The other one was posted this summer. I must have seen it and forgot! Mine has therefore been CASEd!

Stamps: none

Cardstock: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Ink: none

Accessories: 2 3/8" scallop circle, 1/2" circle and 1 3/4" circle punches, Old Olive striped ribbon, magnets

Now, don't you want to be making cool projects like this every month? Call or email me and we'll get you into a group and make some more fabulous creations!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

New technique!

I found this technique on someone's blog. I'm sorry I don't remember who's. I'm not very good at that! Anyway, to do this you take a piece of wax paper and run it through your Big Shot in an embossing folder. Take 2 pieces of glossy cardstock and make a sandwich with the embossed wax paper and the glossy sides of the paper in the middle. Take a piece of copy paper and lay it over the top of your sandwich. Using an iron, iron over the the sandwich. Take out the glossy papers and brayer over them with whatever color you want. I chose Real Red for these cards. When you are done, your glossy cardstock has a little different pattern on them. These cards are CASEd with a little of me added to them!

Here's the other piece of glossy all put together!

Stamps: Season of Joy

Cardstock: Glossy, Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red

Accessories: Wax paper, Plenty of Petals embossing folder, Basic Black grosgrain ribbon, brayer, dimensional

Can you see the differences in the flower layer of these cards? Try out this fun and easy technique but remember to NOT use the iron that you use to iron clothes! Sometimes the wax paper can get onto the iron and then all over you clothes, ask me how I know! (My hubby wasn't too happy with me either!)

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Christ is Born!

I made this card just for the fun of stamping! I don't get a lot of time just to stamp. This one just came to me! The only problem is that I didn't have any Cherry Cobbler ribbon so I had to die my own. I used the whiet organza and Cherry Cobbler reinker with a little water and got the ribbon the color that I needed it. The "Christ is Born" is embossed on vellum.

Stamps: Christ is Born

Cardstock: Natural White, Vellum

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark

Accessories: Organza ribbon, gold embossing powder, Always Artichoke

 marker, Cherry Cobbler reinker, Crop-a-dile

Sometimes, when I think something it doesn't always work out on paper. I'm thrilled with this one! It turned out exactly the way I had it pictured in my head! Love that!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Simply Just Believe!

We were blessed this year and able to take 2 vacations! The other vacation was to the Upper Penisula of Michigan with my hubby's family. That's the 6 of us, his sister and her family (4), his other sister and her family (anothter 6) and his parents. We rented a house for a week and stayed together! No your math isn't rusty, that's 18 under one roof for a whole week! Needless to say, there were some tense times but mostly enjoyable! I was able to steal away from all the commotion and stamp. I had just received this beautiful stamp set and I had to use it! My oldest daughter, Abi, picked out these colors. She seems to have a great eye for colors! I like the the focal point on this card. Although I did struggle with cutting around it free hand to get the layer!

Stamps: Just Believe, Woodgrain

Cardstock: Concord Crush, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink: Concord Crush, Whisper White

Accessories: Organza ribbon

These cards are pretty simple but that's OK! Simple is good too. Simple can keep you focused and ready for the more complicated. It's also really hard to do too much with that many people wanting to know what you are doing and you have limited supplies!  I LOVE these colors together!

Stamps: Just Believe

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush, Whisper White

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush

Accessories: Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon

This card is my favorite of the three. The scallop embellishment I had seen somewhere else but I thought it was cool so I added it to my card! Love that the circle in this set fits in one of our punches!

Stamps: Just Believe

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and scallop circle punches

Well, I hope you take a few supplies with you the next time you are on vacation! You might be surprised what you can get done! This helped me realize that I don't need all those fancy tools! Oh, who am I kidding, we all need ALL the tools! :)

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

One layer cards

This past summer we went on a GREAT vacation to South Dakota. We rented a cabin for the 6 of us (my hubby and our 4 daughters and me) out in the middle of no where. There wasn't any cell reception or internet acess. We didn't have a stove, only a gas grill. No tv or radio! It was one of the best vacations that we have ever taken! We did hiking in the hills, bike riding, game playing and of course some stamping! My youngest daughter, Belle just LOVES the stamp set Make a Monster. I purchased this in the clear mount and she can get the eyes right where they are suppose to be. She helped me pick these colors (not that we had much choice as I only brought a few colors with us.) and which monsters to stamp. Then we stacked them!

Here's one set.

Stamps: Make a Monster, Silhouette Sentiments

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Pear Pizzazz ribbon, aquapainter

These were stamped in black and it seemed too bold so we tried again. She picked different monsters then too! I used the tuft of hair for grass! Thought this was a cool idea but I'm sure I saw it somewhere. I don't usually come up with things like that on my own!

Stamps: Make a Monster, Silhouette Sentiments

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Pear Pizzazz ribbon, aquapainter

I have really been enjoying making one layer cards. They aren't as easy as you would think they would be! I think this style is one of my favorites to create. I've made this in the past with snowflakes and a Christmas greeting. This card was a make n take at my workshops in August. I was trying to showcase the new In Colors. Although, I did forget to stamp Blushing Bride on this one! Oh well, you get the idea!

Stamps: Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Crushed Concord

Accessories: Pear Pizzazz ribbon

Go try your hand at some one layer cards! Have fun too!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Wisemen from afar!

In October, Stampin' Up! challenged their demonstrators to make phone calls and book 5000 workshops in one day! I was able to book 7 workshops on that day! Several of them were booked for November. So I created this card to do as our make and take. Actually, I think I saw this on another website and I CASEd it! I did change it up to make it mine but the original idea isn't mine! I love the torn edges of the layers. The best way to get the edges to look the same is to stack them on top of each other and then tear. Such a simple trick to keep the edges looking a like! The star has dazzling diamonds on it.

After my workshops were over, I had paper cut up for more projects and no more workshops! So I like to put them together so that I have cards on hand. I also use these cards as gifts, sell them at my church to raise money for a project at church or I send them to the troops to mail back to the states and their families. Anyway, I decided to play a little bit and I added embossing and silver shimmer paint. I'm not sure that I love this card. It seems too busy to me but I've created worse!

This is another version of the card. This one has lots of sponging on it. It's hard to see all that sponging but it does look pretty good in real life.

Stamps: Come to Bethlehem

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Rich Razzleberry ribbon, 2-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Modern Label punch, sponge, dimensionals, petals-a-plenty embossing folder, silver shimmer paint, finger dauber

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Another Christmas Card!

Well, can you guess how this one got started? You got it! It's from Stampin' Addicts sketch challenge! I think I'm all out of challenge cards until I work on them again! This is for SASC73. I think these colors were just laying on my table and I thought they worked together so I went with it. Again, not your traditional winter colors but fun none the less! The only problem I had was,  I wasn't sure if it should be horizontal...

or vertical! 

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Sponge, Rhinestone, 2-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, white grosgrain ribbon

So, which way should it go? I just can't decide which is why it doesn't have a sentiment on it! Oh, well. It really doesn't matter!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Halloween Christmas?

Here's another Stampin' Addicts' challenge card! I really had LOTS of fun using the challenges to create cards. I pulled up the sketch challenges on my computer. I had the color challenges written in my creative notebook. I also had my Christmas stamp sets on my table. I started with the most current challenges at the time and went to work. This one is for Sketch Challenge 72 and Color Challenge 72 which was meant to be Halloween colors! While I will admit that I wasn't sure I could pull this one off, I LOVE IT! I did a couple of vendor fairs and this card was the most commented on by far! I think the layout and colors really grabbed everyone's attention. It's just unusual for Christmas. Not sure if  you can tell, but there is glitter on the stars in the tree.

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Cardstock: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Cajun Craze, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder, sponge, 2-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Basic Black grosgrain ribbon, finger daubers, Scallop edge punch

Now it's your turn! Go check out the challenges and see what you can do with them! I can't wait until I have another day that I can play!

Happy Stampin'!

Shelley

Candy Cane Christmas

Playing around again! This is for more Stampin' Addicts challenges. Paula does a great job with the sketches. I only wish I could print them all out and add them to my creative binder that I have. Oh well. This card is for sketch challenge 74 and color challenge 73. I like Trina's color challenges too. May times I have to think outside the box (maybe that's just my box that I have to get out of!) to get them to work for me. This color challenge was based on the new Candy Cane Christmas DSP that can be found in the mini.

What do you think? 

Stamps: Season of Joy

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Garden Green and Whisper White

Ink: Garden Green, Real Red

Accessories: sponge, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Garden Green markers, white grosgrain ribbon

Thanks for looking!

Shelley

Stampin' Addicts Challenges

Sorry I haven't posted for several days. I had way more going on than should be allowed! Tuesday night I signed a new recruit to my Stampin' Up! team of demonstrators! Welcome to Tracy! When I got home from Tracy's house, I got a phone call from my manager at Curves. The owners decided to close the club that I'm working at and merge it with the other club that they own. I decided that when my club closes, I'll be done working for them! Wednesday was my husband's 40th birthday and my daughters and I threw him a surprise party! Boy, was he surprised! He told me that I shouldn't frighten the old people as they might have heart attacks!!!! Silly man! Thursday I had a workshop and Friday was my monthy hostess club meeting. Saturday I had a vendor fair! I also signed another recruit on Saturday! Welcome Deb! Needless to say, I didn't even have time to schedule a posting!

Two weeks ago, we didn't have anything to do over the weekend so I spent the whole day on Saturday stamping! This is one of the cards that I created. I used a sketch challenge and a color challenge from Stampin' Addicts It's hard to see but under the little girl's feet is Dazzling Diamonds. I think this is my favorite card that I made that day but I'll let you judge. Keep watching as I will be posting the others soon.

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Season of Joy

Cardstock: Soft Suede, River Rock, Early Espresso, Whisper White

Ink: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, River Rock, Sahara Sand

Accessories: Early Espresso 1/8"Taffeta ribbon, Aquapainter, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Scallop Circle die, Circle Scissors, 2-way glue, sponge, Dazzling Diamonds, dimensionals

Happy stamping!

Shelley

Beer Mugs!

We made this card at one of my workshops. My hostess wanted to use the shimmer paint so I made this card and we added the shimmer paint to the foam of the beer mugs. This is a great guy card which aren't always the easiest for me to create. My hubby loved it!

 After I came home, I was looking at this card and thought it would be fun to step it up. I wish that I would have done this for my workshop but life goes on! I really like the way the step it up version turned out. I added sponging to the edges of the More Mustard and Whisper White cardstocks. I also textured the More Mustard panel. Those little things added a lot to the card!

Stamps: Cheers to You

Cardstock: Night of Navy, More Mustard, Whisper White

Ink: Stazon Black, More Mustard, Night of Navy

Accessories: Aquapainter, Shimmer paint White Frost, sponges, Night of Navy 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Square lattice embossing folder, Big Shot 

So which one do you like better?

Shelley

Coaching Volleyball!

I was again coaching volleyball this fall! I did this with a wonderful friend named Jeanine. I wanted to make her a special gift to thank her for doing this with me. Her favorite color is orange so I used some Dusty Durango to create this purse and cards. Dusty Durango isn't available any longer but check out the great new color, Cajun Craze! I think you will LOVE this new burnt orange color!

Stamps: Lovely Letters

Ink: Baja Breeze

Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Whisper White

Accessories: Basic Gray satin ribbon, Basic Gray DSP, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Big Shot embossing folder and die

Our team learned A LOT this season. We were coaching 5th and 6th grade girls. We taught them to serve over hand and didn't even show them how to serve underhand. We were nervous about doing this as serving is everything at this age but we wanted them to be prepared to keep playing volleyball as they get older. We didn't win many games because of this decision but we started the season with only 2 girls serving over hand and at the end every one of our 11 girls were able to succeed with an over hand serve! That's something to be proud of!

We did only win one game but it was the most exciting game to have won! At the end of the season, we played in a tournament that was based on the record for the season. Well, because we didn't win any matches, we were ranked 8 and had to play the number 1 seed of the tournament. We WON!!! They won the first game and we won the second two. It was really exciting and fun.

We had an end of the season party for the girls. We played Queen of the Court with the 7th and 8th graders and had tons of fun. I made each of the girls an ornament to hang on their tree. I like the way they turned out and they were pretty  happy with them. What do you think?

Stamps: Have a Ball

Ink: Stazon Black and Hunter Green

Accessories: Green Sharpie and ribbon

Sorry I have been missing. I'm going to work on posting more often! Feel free to email me to remind me to post again!

Shelley

For You Bleach

I have started teaching a class once a month that's Getting Back to the Basics of stamping. We have started with some real simple techniques. One of the cards that we made was one of my Leadership swaps. The Pendant Park card with rock and roll and masking on it. This card is another one that we made. It's using the bleach technique. I like to place a piece of paper towel that's been folded onto a stryo-foam plate, then put some bleach on it and use that as your ink pad. Just remember to clean your stamp after using bleach. I love to see what color is going to appear! Each cardstock color will have a little different look to it from the bleach.

Try bleach stamping and see what you can make! It's really a neat technique.

Stamps: For You

Cardstock: Eggplant Envy, Lavender Lace, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Lavender Lace marker, Two-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds, black grosgrain ribbon, bleach, paper towel, stryo-foam plate

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!
Shelley

February Club Projects

 This is one of the projects we did at our club meeting last month. It turned out really cute! I just love the new Polka dot embossing folder for the Big Shot! Now's a fantastic time to get your own Big Shot! With Sale-a-bration going on, you get lots of goodies free to go with it! I've put together a Big Shot kit that will get you started. The cost of the kit is $200 plus tax and shipping. The kit contains:
- Big Shot Die-Cut Machine with Multipurpose Platform and Standard Cutting Pads, $99.95
- Decorative Strip Spacer Platform, $9.95
- Decorative Strip Cutting Pads, $7.95
- Top Note Bigz Die, $21.95
- Lattice Bigz Die, $21.95
- Billboard Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die, $21.95
- Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, $11.95
- Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, $7.95

You will also receive
- 4 free Sale-A-Bration items of your choice
- a Level 1 Hostess Set of your choice
- $20 Hostess Dollars to spend on anything else you'd like

You may substitue other equally priced items. Call or email me to place your order. (Offer good until March 31,2010 and only through me.)

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Glorious Green
Cardstock: Whisper White, Glorious Green
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, scallop trim border punch, Glorious Green marker, Button Latte, glue dots, dimensionals

Here's another great project for the Big shot. It's a sour cream container. It holds quite a bit of candy and is super easy to make! This one is made with window sheets and is run through the Big Shot with Finial Press. Take a quarter of a sheet of paper and tape it together the short way. Then pinch one end and tape it close. Then pinch the opposite end the other way and you have this great little container. Mine is kept close the the ribbon but you could tape, use a brad or eyelet, or any other item to keep it closed.

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Ink: Old Olive
Cardstock: Certainly Celery
Accessories: Window Sheets, butterfly punch, celery ribbon, dimensionals, sticky strip, crop-a-dile

I LOVE the way this easel card came out. I don't use this stamp set very often and I had Abi help me pick out stamps again. She gave me this one. The bird is stamped using the baby wipe technique. To do the baby wipe technique you need a baby wipe and some reinkers. I place my baby wipe on a stryofoam plate and then drop ink onto it. Make sure your inked area is as big as your largest stamp. Use this as your ink pad! (Make sure you clean the stamp between inkings.) Pretty cool, huh?

Stamps: A Good Friend
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Cameo Coral, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: Baby wipes, Pumpkin Pie, Cameo Coral, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue re-inkers, Pumpkin Pie corduroy buttons, dimensional
Hope you enjoyed my projects!
Happy Stampin'!
Shelley

February Mighty Stampers

Mighty stampers is technique class that I teach at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Racine, WI every month. We learn 5 techniques and make 3 cards using those techniques. That can be a real challenge to incorporate them together! My oldest daughter, Abi, helps me pick out stamp sets that I should use. She has a great habit of picking stamps that I forgot that I have or just haven't used in a while.

This first card is using the techniques of polished wrinkles and embossing folder highlights. Both techniques are pretty easy and my ladies loved the way this card turned out.

Stamps: Cheers to You

Ink: Old Olive, Summer Sun, Night of Navy, White, Basic Black

Cardstock: Night of Navy, Kraft, Old Olive

Accessories: Old Olive ribbon, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, aqua-painter, Big Shot, Perfect polka dot embossing folder, sponge, rubbing alcohol, gold re-inker, cotton ball, dimensionals

This card uses geometric overlay. This was a challenge for me. I haven't used this stamp set very much. I purchased it because I had lots of ideas and then ran out of time to complete them. When Abi gave it to me I almost cringed. I think it turned out pretty cool for being intimidated at first. I'm not sure you can see it but I stamped the dominoes on the black cardstock with black ink.

Stamps: Game Night

Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, So Saffron, Black StazOn

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories: Window Sheet, Metallic eyelets, crop-a-dile, Black gingham ribbon

The last card that we made is my favorite. We used shimmer mist and masked frames to create this beauty. I know that I'm a little bias toward this one as I have 4 beautiful daughters and no sons (I keep telling my husband that the boys are coming and then he's NOT going to like them but he still wants a son!) so pink princesses are all the rage in my house! The card is quite sparkly but it's hard to see in this photo.

Stamps: Princess Time

Ink: Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black

Cardstock: Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Spray bottle, alcohol, white shimmer paint, circle scissors, black gingham ribbon, stipple brush, two-way glue, Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks for looking and keep stampin'!

Shelley

Leadership Swaps

At the beginning of January, I had the awesome priviledge to attend Stampin' Up!'s Leadership confernce. As is the tradition at any Stampin' Up! events, I took several swaps with me. I think that I may be addicted to swapping! I didn't (OK, I still don't) NEED any more swaps but they are so much fun to make and to share with everyone!

The Alien doing the hokey pokey was a lot of fun but more work than you realize. Between coloring him in, dragging all the edges in ink, punching the stars and "stitching" the stars, these babies took quite a bit of time! I do LOVE the way they turned out though. Doesn't he look like he is doing the hokey pokey? Put your left foot in, put your left foot out, put your left foot in and shake it all about. Let's do the hokey pokey and turn yourself about. That's what it's all about!

Stamps: Greeting Eartlings, Smarty Pants

Inks: Not Quite Navy, Tempting Turquoise

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Whisper White

Accessories: Large Star punch, Star punch, silver brads, 1/16" handheld punch, white gel pen, Not Quite Navy and Green Galore markers, dimensionals

This card I made for the Stampin' Addicts dinner at Leadership. There were about 35 of us that got together and ate dinner together. We had lots of fun and got to know each other better. One of my favorite things about the dinner is that we were able to go around the room and tell everyone a little bit about our cards that we were swapping that evening.

I used the technique of faux silk to make the piece that the butterfly is sitting on. It's really quite simple to do. Stamp your image on tissue paper, crumble it up and then smooth it out. Layer it onto a piece of cardstock and there you have it! It really does look like silk. It's hard to see in my photo but it's quite neat looking.

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Thank You Kindly

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Basic Black

Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Whisper White, Cardstock Vellum

Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterfly die, Perfect Details Texture plate, Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, hemp, tissue paper

I LOVE the way this last card turned out. I won the stamp set Pendant Park at Convention this past summer. I haven't used it very much and really wanted to do something different with it. So I masked the bench with the two cute little squirrels on it and then stamped the bush behind them. Well, that's not all that different! Many people have done that before! I inked my bush with Cameo Coral and rocked in Ruby Red. Now that's different! I added the heart above the squirrels as well as the strip below and the other heart and I was very pleased with the outcome!

Stamps: Pendant Park, All Holidays

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red

Cardstock: Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Accessories: Crop-a-dile, Heart to Heart punch, Metallic eyelets, dimensionals

Keep Stampin', Until next time

Shelley

I sewed!!

I was given a sewing machine a few years ago by my mom. She works at Nancy's Notions in Beaver Dam, WI. If you are into sewing and quilting, that will sound familiar to you. She got this sewing machine pretty cheap and passed it on to me because I'm the creative one in our family. Well, it's been sitting in the basement for quite some time. I have sewn a couple of pillow coverings out of old shirts, fix the occasional hem, gotten a costume together, nothing fancy. Well, I was inspired by all the textiles that I'm seeing on the web using our Big Shot so I thought, "Why not?" Mom gave me a bag of rements from Nancy's so I pulled a couple out and went at it. I wasn't going to be out anything other than my time! This is what I created! Aren't you proud of me? Now the only problem that I have is that all four of my girls want one! I guess I better not put the sewing machine away.

Shelley

Leadership Textiles

At Leadership, Stampin' Up! had several women make different things using the Big Shot, different dies that we sell and fabric. What these women came up with just blew my mind! I'm NOT a sewer but I can and do appreciate the finished product. My idea of sewing is a handful of pillows for my sofa, mending a seam, fixing a button or Halloween costumes. These women did a FANTASTIC job of putting these works of art together. I'm sharing a couple of pictures from that booth.

The first picture has a banner that I just love. I want to make one of these for may family. We have a wall in our dining room that we have hung many of my children's art projects up. I think it would look neat to have "Zarling" hanging over them. Now I need to find the right fabric for the job. I also like the quilt on the top of this photo. Having all girls in my house (other than my hubby), pink is a favorite.

The second photo is another quilt done with the Pennant die but they are butted up against each other. I think this layout is very unique and fun!

The star is my all time favorite. I love Americana stuff and this quilt just screams my name. This is using the 5 point star die.

The last quilt is really cool too. I like that is uses the inside of the oval frame die to create a flower. Again all the pinks are wonderful and very striking with the black and white border.

I have several other pictures that I would be willing to share with you if you are interested in seeing what else can be done using the Big Shot and the dies. The dies will cut 8 layers of fabric if they don't have any fold lines in them. They will cut 3 layers if they have the fold lines in them. I have tried it out and am amazed at how easy it works! Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Shelley

Leadership!

I had the great pleasure of attending Leadership this year. It was great fun! I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. I roomed with 3 wonderful women whom I hadn't really met before. We have been "talking" to each other online (Stampin' Addicts) for quite some time. We decided to room together and had a blast!

Left to right: Yapha, Staci, Lyssa, and Shelley (me)

We were able to leave our window open all night and day if we chose and it was the first week of January! That is something that we don't get to do in WI very often!(Remember the January tornado of a couple of years ago?) We saw some beautiful sunrises from the 16th floor of the Wyndham hotel. I love the mosaic look to the sunrise.

This is another reflection from our hotel room window. You can see the hotel we were in. It's the short building with the round looking windows in the center of the photo.

I really was awed by the reflections! You would think I've never seen a mirror before. What can I say! When I don't have the mom and wife responsibilities I just let me hair down! I got to meet Sterling Gardner (Shelli's husband). What a patient man to put up with all those women! He always had a smile, even when one in my group decided to sit in his lap!


I have to show you the picture of the integrate Stampin' Up! logo that was hanging at the front of the stage. I LOVE the way this looks.

If you even have the opportunity to attend any Stampin' Up! function, RUN TO IT! They do a fabulous job of putting on these events. I am planning to attend the Milwaukee regional in April, want to go?